Iloilo City and province are no longer the most “shabulized” area in the Philippines, thanks to anti-drug operations that led to the “neutralization” of several drug personalities in the last two years, police said.

Western Visayas Police Regional Office head Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao said the city and province has greatly improved in terms of illegal drugs affectation.

“Malinis na,” Bulalacao said, adding they no longer have too much concerns on drugs in Iloilo City and Iloilo province.

He added, however, that there are “the remaining few who are insisting to continue with their illegal activities.”

In August 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte publicly declared that Iloilo is the “most shabulized” in the country, and linked then City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to illegal drugs.

A year later, Duterte acknowledged that Iloilo has gone from shabulized to “medyo wala na (not much).”

The anti-drug operations led to the death of Melvin Odicta, Sr., once considered as Western Visayas top drug personality, and his wife Meriam on Aug. 29, 2016.

Bulalacao noted the continued decline in the number of eight focus crimes – murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carnapping/motorcycle theft.

PRO-6 records showed 1,743 operations were conducted from Dec. 5, 2017 to Feb. 11, 2019, the period of the resumption of Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded.

The operations led to the arrest of 2,461 drug personalities – 401 of whom are listed by the PNP Directorate for Intelligence while 2,060 are not listed.

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